Tag Archives: entertain

I enjoy New Years. I don’t enjoy it for the parties or the pomp and circumstance. I enjoy an opportunity to have a new beginning. Even when you have a good year to begin with, having an opportunity to improve on it can be highly motivational. Whatever you didn’t finish in 2014, you can complete with bravado in 2015. Whomever or whatever you should have eliminated from your environment in 2014, can be left at the door in 2015.

New beginnings are beautiful. New beginnings are empowering. New beginnings should spark a desire within to become even better than you were yesterday, or this year. If you’ve been a fan for a while, you’re aware that I don’t believe in making resolutions. Instead, I elect to set goals for myself that can be achieved and measured. I am proud that I have completed many of my goals in 2014. Those few tasks that were completed are still many steps ahead for 2015, simply because I started on them and set realistic expectations, then I allowed the Masters Plan to improve upon them one day at a time. You can do the same. Begin your new beginning now. Not another year from now.

That goal you’ve been trying to get on the right foot with but it keeps going left, may simply need the insight of someone who can mentor you in order for it to grow and flourish. But you have to start today.

That weight you want to lose can be gone before you know it and you may just need someone to motivate you and encourage you to adopt healthier eating habits or more physical activity more often. But you have to start today. And that person to motivate you could be the same person you see in the mirror.

That education you may want to pursue might be available for free online. Google it. But you have to start today.

Some opportunities are indeed once in a lifetime; however some opportunities are there for the taking when we take the necessary steps toward them. That then creates additional opportunities that you may not realize. But you have to start today.

If Super Woman Productions and Publishing can assist you with your new beginning by helping you publish your books, by speaking at your events or for your groups to motivate you, by helping you prepare for interviews for television or radio, by advertising your products and services, or by involving you or your business in our events so that you can meet others who can assist you, those opportunities have been made available to you. That’s what the Super Woman Brand is here for and that’s what I strive to do with my books, blogs, events and words; encourage, entertain and empowerYOU.

Basketball has surely been missed. I’m not a huge sports fan, but I do like football and basketball (players). I also like the spectacle of watching a live basketball game at a stadium. I recently noticed that my holiday season this year won’t be the same. I do not have a Detroit Pistons game to attend this year during Thanksgiving with my closest friends. I’m sure I’m not the only person who realizes how much basketball is connected to an event or tradition in our lives. The only thing on television right now related to professional basketball is VH1’s Basketball Wives LA. Trust me, it’s not the same experience at all.

What amazes me is that although I don’t know much about the team rosters, their specific star players, scores and what not, I do know that basketball is a business. In business you have occasional conflict between employers and employees. And all businesses have had to adjust due to the changes in the economic climate. Many companies have had massive layoffs and closures. Some businesses have gone completely out of business in the last ten years. While other companies have grown into huge behemoths because of our need to save more money, while sacrificing quality (ala Walmart). Everyone has been impacted in one way or another forcing us to sometimes make unpleasant sacrifices and adapt in the face of adversity. To pay or not to pay, has become the question in many households and for many businesses, including the NBA.

People love basketball. The game, the competitiveness, the hotdogs. Some very memorial movies have been written around the love of basketball over the years [Hoosiers (1986), White Men Can’t Jump (1992), Above The Rim (1994), Sunset Park (1996), He Got Game (1998), {my all time favorite}Love and Basketball (2000), Finding Forrester (2000), Coach Carter (2005), Glory Road (2006), and Just Wright (2010)]. Basketball has wrapped its arms around us and baptized our modern culture with its influence in every aspect, from the way we dress to what we eat, from what products and cars we buy to what we name our kids [fast forward a few years from now and see a young LeBron Jenkins starting kindergarten]. It crosses many demographics. It’s not unusal to see some of the biggest names in entertainment, business, banking, technology and manufacturing sitting at any game, in any stadium, at anytime, across the country during basketball season. You might have even sat next to a business mogul or millionaire at the last game you attended. FYI – all wealthy people don’t sit court side and they don’t all make it onto TMZ.

When it comes to professional athletes, I’ve always thought that they get paid a great deal of money to do what they love – play a game – and entertain us. They are one out of one thousand young men with a dream who made it into the position they have. Some of it was based on talent, some of it was determination, but most of it is a blessing. For every Michael Jordan there is a Michael Williams, who played basketball just as well, if not better, but didn’t get the same opportunity. Unfortunately, I also feel that many professional athletes don’t appreciate the place they hold in society because they have been reckless with their money and their morals. So much so that morals clauses and dress codes had to be implemented by the league in an attempt to encourage them to (at least appear to) be more socially responsible and keep their dirt out of the media. Sometimes it works. Other times it doesn’t.

This week the NBA players decided to disband its union so that it can now move forward with a lawsuit against the team owners. This occurs after they declined an offer according to NBA Commissioner David Stern “that does not call for a reduction on contract, does not call for a hard cap, does not call for the absence of guaranteed contracts and will see salaries go from over $5 million to between $7 million and $8 million during the length of the deal”. WOW! Talk about biting the hand! I’m sure that there are many people like me that would LOVE that kind of contract where we work. However, we’re not professional athletes, are we? Many of us will never see a million dollars, let alone FIVE to EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS. For many of us that would be more than enough money to retire on and live off of for the remainder of our lives. Apparently, it’s not good enough for the NBA players. They’ve lived above their means, haven’t saved and haven’t invested wisely. They need more money and more basketball related income. But is it a need, or greed?

This raises many questions. Isn’t the love of money the root of all evil? What happened to the love of the game? Is it possible that so many of the players have squandered their earnings over the years that they wouldn’t be satisfied with any contract other than the one they sought to begin with? Why are the owners responsible for covering the players inability to be financially responsible with the money they already earn? Does your job give you a raise because you gamble or have a house and car you can’t afford to own? None of the players should be hurting financially. Have you see their paychecks and endorsement deals?Even the lowest paid players on each team make high six figure salaries, which is more than most middle class families see in a lifetime. I can’t feel bad for them when I know people who struggle just to pay their rent every month. Did the players also forget that unless fans buy tickets to see them play, they aren’t worth all the zeroes on their paychecks? Who is going to buy tickets to watch a bunch of out of shape basketball players run up and down the court in February 2012 (or later, if they remain greedy) when they can watch NCAA college basketball for less money or for free? Everyone likes FREE STUFF.

Fans who love the game, for the game, have other options. I’ll be watching Love and Basketball this weekend.

Although I’m skeptical and hopeful that an agreement will be reached that will satisfy both sides, I still have love for basketball (players). If worse comes to worse, the owners can always hire replacement players, pay them less money and possibly recruit new talent at the same time. There are many talented and entertaining players playing overseas, in the And 1 BasketballLeague and even the Harlem Globetrotters. Maybe Michael Williams will finally get a shot at his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. After all, basketball is still a business.